Harper's wild side

Hey there, time traveller!This article was published 3/5/2011 (2046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the most to smile about this morning as he woke up as the head of a majority government.

He just held his first press conference and took more questions than he ever did on a single day during the campaign. He even came back to the microphone twice to accommodate a question (and then repeated in French) about how he celebrated.

Harper, not exactly known as a party animal, said his staff pulled him back up to the hotel room in Calgary after his victory speech last night and asked him to pop the cork on some champagne. Then they insisted he guzzle from the bottle.

"Some of you may know I'm not much of a drinker but I did. However they tricked me and there was only like that much in it," he said, holding up his fingers to demonstrate an inch or two. "So much for my wild side."

After a campaign in which he was fiercely criticized by the very reporters at this morning's press conference for being closed off and only taking a limited number of questions per day, this was the most personality he has shown in weeks.

He has said with a majority he will govern differently, and won't have the spectre of being defeated resonating through every decision. So far he seems to be telling the truth, as the more relaxed and far less combative Harper this morning (albeit clearly exhausted) was a very nice start to the Harper majority government.

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.